Presentations of the 16 themed sessions > Session DSession DTerritorial Reforms: A Balance between Resilience and Innovation. Which Timescale for which Populations?Facilitator: Sylvia BRUNET (CUREJ)France's regions are undergoing organisational change. Decentralisation measures are being implemented in conjunction with the development of decentralised State administration and other changes aimed at reorganising the regions in accordance with various more modern methods, which are more visible at European and world level (large regions, metropolitanisation, etc.). The longer timescale of legal norms, administrative transformations and social structures is being overtaken by the upheavals of regional reforms, conceived over short periods of time and regularly subjected to challenge. Consequently, the constantly evolving scope of regional public policy is coming into conflict with the timescales that apply within regional and normative frameworks produced by societies over a long period of time. This session will focus more specifically on challenges to the traditional trio of town-department-State that have arisen as a result of these new forms of interaction. From an institutional perspective, the question of the fate of towns and departments will be raised, as will the prospects for the future of the more recent administrative tiers (regions and inter-municipal districts). These issues may be addressed in terms of the opposition between inertia and innovation with regard to citizen participation; or alternatively, by examining the future constitutional principle of differentiation and its potential impact on equality before the law if regional and local claims to identity are met. Regional reforms are being accompanied by changes relating to social coexistence (“le vivre-ensemble”). Potential focuses for analysis include: the question of how public services are being maintained (through digital tools, dedicated “centres”?) in areas experiencing demographic decline, or of how new modes of mobility are emerging as alternatives to individual car use, with the aim of assessing to what extent public actors act (and interact) in the service of populations and in order to promote the shared use of public space, using traditional tools or modern and innovative solutions, including some futuristic ones. Other potential topics include public perception of ongoing reforms and the recent emergence of movements with varying degrees of activity depending on the region, such as “zadistes” (anti-globalisation activists), “bonnets rouges” (anti-eco-tax protesters) or “gilets jaunes” (broad-based protest movement). Finally, it may be worth asking whether the pursuit of change and modernisation will enable the diversity of local and regional historical heritage (whether tangible or intangible: local traditions, regional languages, etc.) to be preserved over time in the face of traditional constitutional principles: the indivisibility of the Republic, equality before the law and the oneness of the French people. Indicative bibliographical referencesAuby J.-B., Renaudie O., 2016, Réforme territoriale et différenciation(s), Berger-Levrault. |
